Lecturer
Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara

4810 Ellison Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020
Telephone: 805-893-2750
Fax: 805-893-7102
E-mail: dmullin@comm.ucsb.edu

Dorothy Imrich Mullin

Dorothy (Dolly) Mullin is a Lecturer whose primary focus is teaching undergraduate communication courses and supervising graduate student Teaching Assistants. She joined the Communication Department as a faculty member in 1996, after serving many years as a Teaching Assistant here while completing her Masters and Ph.D. She specializes in the large pre-major courses in communication, including "Introduction to Communication" (Comm 1), "Communication Research Methods" (Comm 88), and "Theories of Communication" (Comm 89). Dr. Mullin also regularly teaches an upper division undergraduate course in Mass Communication and Children (Comm 133).

Although Dr. Mullin is known for her demanding exams (they require understanding and application far beyond mere memorization of course concepts), she is also known for her engaging and approachable teaching style. Students value her clearly-explained, well-organized, multi-media lectures, and they find that they can easily talk to Dr. Mullin both inside and outside of class. According to Dr. Mullin, “My primary goals in teaching are to provide students with the tools and inspiration to do their very best, to prepare them for upper division (or graduate) coursework in the communication major, and to help them gain something valuable and practical to take away and use in their own lives.”

Dr. Mullin’s research interests center around issues that involve the media and law and media and children. With media and law, she is primarily interested in “free speech” issues, particularly government attempts to regulate offensive content (such as indecency, pornography, or hate speech) in broadcast media and on the Internet. The courts and policy makers often approach media content from a different perspective than do social scientists, and she is interested in empirically testing some of the legal reasoning. With media and children, she is mainly interested in studying how children or adolescents understand and evaluate media messages. She frequently serves as faculty mentor for the research projects of Senior Honors undergraduates, as well as serves on the Masters and Ph.D. committees of graduate students.

Education

B.A.	1987	University of California, Los Angeles	Communication Studies Magna Cum Laude Certificate of College Honors
M.A.	1992	University of California, Santa Barbara	Communication Awarded with Distinction (Master's Thesis: The Effects of Degrading Versus Non-degrading Pornography on Sexist Reactions to Women)
Ph.D.	1998	University of California, Santa Barbara	Communication (Dissertation: Challenging the Traditional Rationale for Broadcast Indecency Regulation: The Role of Negative Affect and Moral Judgments about Offensive Content)

Professional Teaching Experience

Winter 1996 - Present: Post-Sixth Year Lecturer
Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Communication Research Methods
An introduction to social scientific research designs used in the field of communication, including survey research, experimental design, content analysis, and field research.
Theories of Communication
An introduction to major theories and theoretical influences in the field of communication, in the areas of interpersonal, small group, organizational, and mass communication.
Introduction to Communication
An introduction to the basic concepts and contexts in communication, including verbal and nonverbal messages, interpersonal relationships, groups and organizations, persuasion, and mass media effects.
Mass Communication and Children
A survey of theories and research on mass media influences on children, including the effects of television violence, advertising, and prosocial and educational programming.
Statistical Analysis for Communication
An introduction to statistical reasoning and analysis in communication research, including basic hypothesis testing, t-test, one and two-way ANOVA, correlation, and regression.
Independent Study
One-on-one instruction, as well as hands-on research experience in special topic areas.
Undergraduate Senior Honors Thesis Advising
Serve as primary mentor and advisor for honors students' year-long Honors Thesis projects

Winter 1994: Teaching Associate
Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mass Communication and Human Behavior
A survey of theory and research on mass media effects on individuals.

1989 - 1995: Teaching Assistant
Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mass Communication Law
Major theories and applications of First Amendment law, including relevant social science research in this area
Mass Communication and Human Behavior
A survey of theory and research on mass media effects on individuals.
Mass Communication and Society
A survey of theory and research on mass media and macro-level effects on society
Mass Communication and Children
A survey of theories and research on mass media effects on children
Broadcast Regulation and Policy
History of regulatory policies, procedures, and governing theories for the broadcast medium
Communication Research Methods and Statistics
An introduction to social scientific research designs in lecture, with a basic course in statistics taught in discussion sections
Communication Theory
An introduction to theories in the field of communication, including interpersonal, small group, organizational, mass, and intercultural communication levels of analysis
Gender and Communication
Theory and research on gender differences and similarities in communication behavior

Winter 1992: Presentation Skills Workshop
Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

Led group presentation sessions, providing feedback and instruction for undergraduates.

Awards and Honors

TEACHING

Named a “Spotlight on Excellence” Honoree by the UCSB Office of Apartment Living for “positive influence on students in the Single Student Apartments and phenomenal contributions to the educational experience at UCSB, ” 2001

Nominated for the "Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award," University of California, Santa Barbara, 2000

Nominated for the UCSB Foundation Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award from the Committee on Effective Teaching & Instructional Support, 1998-1999

Named an "Outstanding Faculty Member" by the Residence Hall Association and Office of Residential Life, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1996-1997; 1997-1998

Received Honorable Mention for the UC-AFT "Excellence in Teaching Award," which honors excellent teaching by lecturers and librarians at UCSB, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997

Received "Excellent Teaching by a Graduate Student" Award, presented by the Instructional and Developmental Division of the International Communication Association, Miami, 1992

Received Edwin R. Schoell Award for Excellence in Teaching, Dept. of Communication, UCSB, 1990

SCHOLARLY

“Top Three Paper” award received for paper presented at the 2000 meeting of the International Communication Association, Communication Law and Policy Division

Master's Degree Awarded With Distinction, 1992

Award of Magna Cum Laude and Certificate of College Honors for B.A. degree, 1987

Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society

Education Abroad Program participant 1985 - 1986, University of Stirling, Scotland

Publications and Professional Conference Papers

Linz, D., & Imrich [Mullin], D. (2001). Child pornography. In S. O. White (Ed.) Handbook of Youth and Justice (pp. 79 - 111). Kluwer/Plenum: New York.

Mullin, D. I. (2000). Challenging the traditional rationale for broadcast indecency regulation: The role of negative affect and moral judgments about offensive content. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Communication Association, Acapulco, Mexico. Top Three Paper Award

Mullin, D. I., & Linz, D. (1996, April 26). The First Amendment and the Web: The Internet porn panic and restricting indecency in cyberspace. Paper presented at "Untangling the Web," a conference of the Librarians Association of the University of California??Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA. Published online at: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/untangle/mullin.html

Mullin, D. I. (1996, March 8). Social harms or polite society? Parents, children, and the problem of broadcast indecency. Paper presented at "Sex Angles," a conference of the UCSB Law & Society and Film Studies departments, Santa Barbara, CA.

Mullin, C., Imrich [Mullin], D. J., & Linz, D. (1996). The impact of acquaintance rape stories and case?specific pretrial publicity on juror decision making. Communication Research, 23, 100-135.

Jansma, L. L., Linz, D. G., Mulac, A., & Imrich [Mullin], D. J. (1996). Men's interactions with women after viewing sexually explicit films: Does degradation make a difference? Communication Monographs, 63, 1-24.

Imrich [Mullin], D. J., Mullin, C., & Linz, D. (1995). Measuring the extent of prejudicial pretrial publicity in major American newspapers: A content analysis. Journal of Communication, 45, 94-117.

Weiss, A. J., Imrich [Mullin], D. J., & Wilson, B. J. (1993). Prior exposure to creatures from a horror film: Live vs. photographic representations. Human Communication Research, 20, 41-66.

Imrich [Mullin], D. J., Mullin, C., & Linz, D. (1990). Sexually violent media and criminal justice policy. In R. Surette (Ed.), The Media and Criminal Justice Policy, Springfield, Ill: Charles C. Thomas.

Additional Conference Papers and Presentations

Imrich, D. J., Mullin, C., & Linz, D. (1995). Measuring the extent of prejudicial pretrial publicity in American newspapers: A content analysis. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Communication Association, Sydney, Australia.

Imrich, D. J. (May, 1993). The effects of degrading versus nondegrading pornography on sexist reactions to women. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Communication Association, Washington, D. C.

Weiss, A. J., Imrich, D. J., & Wilson, B. J. (1992). Prior exposure to creatures from a horror film: Live vs. photographic representations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Miami.

Linz, D. G., Imrich, D. J., Mullin, C. R., Eskenazi, J., & Weiss, A. J. (1992). Assessing the incidence of pretrial publicity and strategies to offset its effects. Paper presented at the Third European Conference of Law and Psychology, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Imrich, D. J., Mullin, C., & Linz, D. (1991). Measuring the extent of prejudicial pretrial publicity in U.S. newspapers: A content analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

Mullin, C., & Imrich, D. (1990). Juror decision making in a sexual assault case: The effects of mass media stories about date rape and prejudicial pretrial publicity about the defendant. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dublin.

Mullin, C., & Imrich, D. (1989). The effects of typical date rape scenario and case?specific pretrial publicity on juror decision making in a sexual assault case. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans.

Professional Association Membership

International Communication Association (ICA)

Divisions: Communication Law & Policy, Instructional/Developmental Communication

University and Community Service

Doctoral Candidate Mentoring, Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2001 (Currently serve on two doctoral candidates’ Ph.D. committees)

Undergraduate Senior Honors Thesis advising, Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-00, 2000-01

Departmental Committees, University of California, Santa Barbara

Undergraduate Affairs Committee, 1996-present
Awards Committee, 1997- present
Subcommittee on Undergraduate Pedagogy, 1998-present
Committee on Undergraduate Research Participation, 1999 - present

Education Abroad Program, University of California, Santa Barbara

Annual interviewer of candidates for the United Kingdom/Ireland program, 1998 - present
Served on EAP Faculty Consultation Group for Communication, reviewing communication program materials and participating UK/I university programs, 2001